How do you like your Nintendo?

That's the question posted by Joystiq after Nintendo posted an operating loss of $457 million for 2013. They ask to choose between "Smaller and weirder," or "Bigger, market defining." However, I disagree with both options. I think Nintendo was best when Nintendo didn't approach gaming as "My Way or the Highway." Nintendo keeps trying to define what gaming should be for the masses and it has only worked once. The Wii was a massive casual success. It's insane how successful it was. Yet, Nintendo hardware wasn't always so specialized.

The NES, SNES were both broader systems. Both had tons of developer support despite other competitors on the market. Then there was the N64 and Nintendo tried to force the cartridge format unto publishers despite Sony offering a much cheaper disc option. Still, in an age where "3D gaming" was really starting to take off on consoles, the N64 was still fairly broad. Nintendo went with another proprietary format for the GameCube. It also used an unique controller, one that didn't lend itself well to multi platform games or certain genres (like fighters). And while the GC was a well built system, it was further separated from other standard consoles.

Then Nintendo tried to reinvent the wheel with the Wii and it worked tremendously. It was great for everyone except a select few third party developers. Developers have been slowly jumping ship since the N64 days and it only got worse with the Wii. Development cost were skyrocketing and publishers didn't want to put their financial future on the line with every release, hence why we get so many Call of Duty games every year. But Nintendo was telling publishers to try something new, something unproven that might work. Or, it might bankrupt them. Publishers clearly didn't go for that.

Now we have the Wii U and it's the same old story. Nintendo wants to define the gaming experience and developers don't want to take the risk. Once again Nintendo is on an island populated by them and a handful of devs/publishers. I don't think Nintendo works best like that. Nintendo was best with broader systems like the NES and SNES. That doesn't mean they still couldn't do other things. After all, Microsoft bundled Kinect but it didn't dramatically change the controller. I hope Nintendo gets back to that, a broad system that's easily accessible to consumers and publishers alike.

I don't have a Nintendo anymore. Until they build a real online gaming network, it's hard to touch anything they make. I would be willing to get/play a Wii U if I could play it online with relatives and friends, but you can't do that. To me, Nintendo home console games are best enjoyed with someone else, and we're not all kids with friends next door to us anymore.

Nintendo Co. (7974), the Japanese video-game company struggling to win over consumers with its latest generation of consoles, plans to expand in emerging markets with new devices starting next year.

The Kyoto-based company will develop completely new game machines for emerging markets rather than sell cheaper versions of existing devices such as the Wii U, President Satoru Iwata said in an interview today. Nintendo is also planning to boost the use of characters such as Mario by offering figurines that will allow the transfer of game information between devices through near field communications.

Nintendo has resisted making its games available on smartphones because it doesn’t see a sustainable way to make money in a business with such boom-and-bust cycles, said Iwata, who has been president since 2002. Making products specifically for emerging markets is a change for the company, which until now has sold the same products globally.

That's interesting. I wonder what sort of devices they're talking about. Given that Nintendo's aiming for emerging markets, the product has to, in some way, be cheaper to accommodate the economic differences. Surely Nintendo's not going to make a more powerful Wii U and then sell it at a loss in some third world country. It wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo was building up to a standalone smartphone/tablet style gaming device.

Why is Nintendo doing poorly? Cause they won't move away from cartoons. Largest video game market is teenagers and cartoons aren't "cool" to teenagers. Better gfx and gore are cool, both of which are completely absent from Nintendo.

That's completely wrong, in my opinion. They only survive because of those cartoony games. The problem is that Nintendo treats gaming like a neighborhood activity, where you only play games with those in your immediate vicinity. There is practically no online gaming, so you can't co-op New Super Mario Bros. U with your friends. You can't have an online Super Smash Bros. or Mario Kart event with family. Then, you throw in that the most-popular gaming endeavor now is the online FPS. Nintendo gets no third-party stuff anymore, so those considering a console have to be willing to lose online contact with others, while also missing out on stuff like Fallout, Skyrim, CoD, BF, Borderlands, and so on. For all of the exclusives Nintendo has, they just don't stack up to the sheer quantity of titles missing from the platform.

I'd get a Wii U if there was online, and my sister would also get one. I don't care that their games "look cartoony," and if you join a discussion on a gaming forum, that's never really the complaint. It's the two-pronged failure of lacking online and shunning the third-party stuff.

There's a difference between having no online capabilities and not having games utilizing those capabilities. I'm not sure where you are getting your info from. The Wii U has an online service. And both Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros Wii U (as well as the 3DS version) will feature online play. Which makes sense considering the previous games in each series do as well. Now, could Nintendo's online setup use some tweaking from a ease of use standpoint? Absolutely.

If you have been watching my posts, I have very current game system besides the PS4 (and will have one once Uncharted 4 hits). Do I like Nintendo, sure but, I really feel they can only go so far on their long term IPs. Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, etc, have been done a ton of times now, and the same game (in a nut shell), feels like the same game. The gaming dynamic has changed, Higher end graphics, better sound, more detailed stories. etc. Nintendo is kind of staying on the path "stick with what works" but, the problem is, it no longer works, as the sales have reflected.

Don't get me wrong, Mario games are fun but, after playing them for an hour or so, it feels like your playing the same game as you played a long time ago, not saying this is bad for some people but, the sales have shown it.

Also, I have a WiiU and I have 2 games for it (maybe a 3rd coming up) and Mario 3D land for the WiiU was a epic game...so some things they do right...

I feel the same, regardless of the price. All I want is to play Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, and maybe Fire Emblem: Awakening. It's the same issue as with PlayStation, where all I want is Kingdom Hearts, but there's not working PS3 emulator yet.

I feel like Nintendo has stuck too much with what works in the past couple years (software), while taking mad risks (hardware.) They're starting to set themselves back on the right track by setting up more games for the "mature" audience, whilst experimenting with their tried and true IPs. (Look at their E3 Digital Event to see what I mean.)

They can't get rid of the GamePad because so many games already utilize it, and Nintendo is generally a proud company anyway. The three problems it has at the moment are that it has poor battery life, it's not exactly ergonomic (make it thinner at the middle, and make the bezels smaller to start), and Nintendo themselves aren't able to make a case for it. (The best GamePad experience is generally considered to be ZombiU.)

Nintendo is also starting to set up a decent online framework. (Last gen, they outsourced the framework to a third party, which can explain some issues.)

Now, the issue with the Wii U at the moment is the perceived lack of games. I don't know about that. The PS4 and XBOne are both experiencing this kind of 'problem.'

Oh yeah, the perfect set-up is going to be PS4/XB1 + NWU + a 3DS/PSV on the side.
I say this because every title Nintendo has shown in E3 so far is an exclusive, whereas the two other consoles are more or less going to get multiplats, timed exclusives and DLC exclusives. (The last one is actually quite insane to me. DLC could decide whether or not you get a console?)

(Disclaimer: I have a soft spot for Nintendo, and I maintain that the GCN controller is the best, aside from that wonky D-Pad.)

(This is a double-post that could be put to better use. Well, used to be one.)
A quick note: I say 3DS/PS Vita because I personally feel that the Vita has gotten more love this year than the 3DS. Then, E3 came along.